Issue 22: Sounds Like

Tires on roads, shifting, excuses, praise, music; the sounds we hear.

Cresting another climb with the group

As we reached tempo speed, a throbbing techno-Euro mix shuffled in, and all I was thinking about was syncopating my pedaling to the beat for about 12 minutes…

That was one of those few, rare times these days when I was in a zone — without a chain. Second back in the paceline and in no hurry to pull off, I clicked the earbud remote up twice, geared down once. In the the saddle and pushing to stay on, in the draft, closer, and progressively faster.

It sounded like “New Sounds from the Past” by Syntax-x. After that Gesaffelstein–Conspiracy Pt. 2, and “Danse en France” (D.I.M Remix)

And threshold breathing, chain stretched on a cassette, tires worn by chipseal, energy percolating over the next 100 miles.

The Fisherspooner song ended abruptly, as did the the mood, and we banked right into a climb. Regrouping, kept the gap to a min, waiting for the next descent and whatever synthcore, electropunk, nouveau disco song would shuffle in next.…

The permutable, interchangeable sounds of a ride are what inspired the theme for issue 22 and it follows the Mt. Bachelor playlist I shared in issue 15.

On another day, the cosmic, riding groove may have been found in hip-hop, metal, or simply the crunchy vibrations of gravel under a fat tire.

Ed. note: After a good run of 42 issues, our magazine app is no longer available, but we’ve archived the content here for Medium members.